Former Black Panther Aaron Dixon to run for Senate

By NEIL MODIE, P-I REPORTER

Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, March 7, 2006

Aaron Dixon, a black community activist and icon of Seattle's political left for nearly 40 years, is running for the U.S. Senate, posing what could be a potent threat to Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell's chances for re-election.

Dixon, 57, a co-founder of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1968, is announcing at a news conference Thursday his candidacy for the Green Party nomination. In a close general election, he conceivably could peel enough liberal votes from Cantwell to help hand the election to Republican businessman Mike McGavick.

In other words, Dixon could do for McGavick what another third-party candidate, Libertarian Jeff Jared, arguably did for Cantwell when she unseated Republican Sen. Slade Gorton in 2000. Cantwell won by 2,229 votes, and many Republicans think the 64,734 votes for Jared cost Gorton the election.

"This has got to be great news for McGavick and bad news for Cantwell," University of Washington political scientist David Olson said of Dixon's candidacy. That's particularly so, he said, because Dixon could pull votes from two reliably Democratic constituencies, environmentalists and African Americans.

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Some liberals are angry at Cantwell for having voted for the 2002 Iraq war resolution, the USA Patriot Act and the 2005 Central American Free Trade Agreement.

In a news advisory about his candidacy, the Dixon campaign said he is running because "Mr. Dixon believes Sen. Cantwell's positions -- and votes -- on crucial issues such as peace and war, fair trade and corporate control, as well as civil liberties vs. unchecked government surveillance, are no longer representing the majority of Washington State residents."

Dixon already has a campaign Web site, which among other things displays a list of endorsements from prominent peace activists, community activists and other liberals. They include two Seattle School Board members, President Brita Butler-Wall and Sally Soriano, and a former member, Amy Hagopian.

A Dixon campaign spokeswoman said the candidate wouldn't be available for comment before his Thursday news conference.

Cantwell's spokeswoman couldn't be reached Tuesday night.

Dixon was a prominent figure in the militant black power movement in Seattle in the late 1960s and became head of the first Black Panther chapter formed outside California. A close ally was Larry Gossett, then a University of Washington student and head of the local Black Student Union. Today, Gossett is a King County councilman.

Gossett, a Democrat, said his old friend's candidacy surprised him and causes him a dilemma.

Despite their long friendship, "I don't know if I would be able to endorse him in the race," Gossett said. Even though some in the grass-roots left dislike Cantwell's positions on some issues, he said, "Everybody individually has got to think: Are those serious enough that they will not support the Democratic senator?" He said he intends to talk with Dixon.

Gossett said Dixon is "principled, progressive and extremely popular" in the black community, especially among its youth. Dixon founded the non-profit Central House, which provides transitional housing for homeless young adults and operates a youth leadership project in four Seattle public high schools.

"If Dixon is running as the Green, it's going to subtract votes from Cantwell," the UW's Olson said. "It's particularly ironic," he added, that Cantwell "has been a stalwart of the environmental movement" on many issues the Green Party cares about.